How to Start or Reactivate a Local Chapter

Regular local chapters

Any group of at least five members of the Society desiring to form a local chapter may petition the Council for authorization to do so. The petition should include a tentative plan consisting of the type of organization envisaged, the purpose of the organization, planned frequency of meetings, expected meeting places, an estimate of the potential membership and the geographic area it will serve. The petition should be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer of the AMS. Materials can be mailed to Headquarters or scanned and submitted digitally to chappetitions@ametsoc.org. If it meets the minimal conditions stated above and all petitioner's have been verified as active members of the Society, it will be sent to the members of the Council for vote by mail ballot unless a meeting of the Council is scheduled within the next forty days. Action by the Council will be forwarded to the petitioners by the Communications Manager, the local chapter point of contact. New chapters will be provided with a list of AMS members within the immediate area of its location upon receipt of appropriate zip codes.

Student chapters

Any group of five student members of the Society desiring to form a student chapter may petition the Council for authorization to do so. In addition to the signatures of five student members, the petition must also be signed by two faculty members. The signing faculty members must also be members of the Society. One faculty member must be designated as the faculty advisor for the student chapter. The petition is similar to that of a regular chapter. The petition should be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer of the AMS. Materials can be mailed to Headquarters or scanned and submitted digitally to chappetitions@ametsoc.org. If it meets the minimal conditions stated above and all petitioners have been verified as active members of the Society, it will be sent to the members of the Council for vote by mail ballot unless a meeting of the Council is scheduled within the next forty days. Action by the Council will be forwarded to the petitioners by the Communications Manager , the local chapter point of contact.

Pre-College chapters

Any group of at least five students desiring to form a pre-college student chapter may petition the Council for authorization to do so. In addition to the signatures of five students, a teacher or other adult advisor must also sign the petition. The petition format is similar to that used to form regular local chapters. The signing adult must already be a member or be willing to join the Society. This is necessary for the chapter to receive important AMS-related materials. Each pre-college chapter must have a participating adult advisor. Appropriate adult advisors may be teachers, librarians, school principals, scout leaders, etc. The petition should be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer of the AMS. Materials can be mailed to Headquarters or scanned and submitted digitally to chappetitions@ametsoc.org. If it meets the minimal conditions stated above and the petitioning adult advisor is verified as a member/associate member of the Society, the petition will be sent to the members of the Council for vote by mail ballot, unless a meeting of the Council is scheduled within the next forty days. Action by the Council will be forwarded to the petitioners by the Communications Manager, the local chapter point of contact. The signing adult advisor will receive a complimentary AMS t-shirt after the petition has been approved.

Reactivation of a chapter

Any group of at least five members of the Society desiring to reactivate a local chapter may petition the Council for authorization to do so. The petition should be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer of the AMS. Action by the Council will forwarded to the petitioners by the Communications Manager, the local chapter point of contact.